A widely used technique for interconnecting components such as integrated circuits to each other and to functioning devices is through printed wiring circuits. Components include insulating packages having leads in the form of pads on the surface or other contacts extending therefrom in rows to form planar disposed arrays are matched with conductive pads on circuits joined to circuit traces leading to and from the component. Interconnection between the conductive pads or leads of a component to the conductive pads or traces of a circuit is accomplished in a number of ways, including solder, or in instances where the removal and replacement of components is necessary during the life of a system by some suitable electrical connector or disconnect. U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,191 issued Oct. 29, 1991 shows such an arrangement wherein the component is held in a housing and driven against a planar connector to compress such connector and the terminals therein against the pads of a circuit to effect an interconnection that may be selectively separated and restored. U.S. patent application No. 07/686,100 filed Apr. 16, 1991, now abandoned, shows examples of three different kinds of contacts for three different kinds of applications that vary depending upon the rigor of environmental use. One of these examples features an array of coil springs forming individual contacts that interconnect the pads of components and circuits.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved planar connector for interconnecting the pads of components to the pads of circuits and a method of manufacture therefor. It is a further object to provide a planar connector insert adapted to be fitted within a housing to interconnect components to circuits, and a method of manufacture and assembly that facilitates the provision of large numbers of closely centered contacts in planar array. It is still a further object to provide an improved planar connector utilizing coil springs individually arrayed in patterns compatible with components and circuit boards wherein a high density of individual connections is achieved.